Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) is about to visit the Kremlin, and Ukraine is watching anxiously, worried that China will eventually decide to provide military assistance to its strategic partner Russia, which will have a major impact on the war.

(AFP file photo)

[Central News Agency] Chinese President Xi Jinping is about to visit the Kremlin, and Ukraine is anxiously watching, worried that China will eventually decide to military aid strategic partner Russia, which will have a major impact on the war.

Agence France-Presse reported that in the Russia-Ukraine war, Beijing tried to portray itself as a neutral party, neither condemning Russia nor explicitly supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

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Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year, China has also provided substantial diplomatic support to Russia while adhering to the principle of respecting Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Ukraine, which lacks influence, can only hope that pressure from Western allies on Chinese leaders will help maintain the fragile balance.

"Ukraine has only the minimum expectations: just hope that things don't get worse," said Sergiy Solodky, chief deputy director of the Kiev think tank New Europe Center.

The issue is so sensitive that Ukrainian authorities do not wish to make public comments during Xi Jinping's visit to Russia from March 20 to 22.

Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin are expected to meet at least twice during these three days.

"Ukraine will closely follow the visit. It is very important for us that China maintains its policy of maintaining respect for the territorial integrity of other countries," a senior Ukrainian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the United States accused Beijing in February of considering military aid to Russia as Russia's war in Ukraine stalled.

CIA Director William Burns told CBS in February, "We have no doubt that the Chinese leadership is considering supplying Russia with lethal weapons."

According to media reports, weapons under consideration by China include ammunition and drones.

China strongly denies these claims.

Only Iran currently supplies Moscow's offensive drones, which are being used specifically to target Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

U.S. officials point out that Chinese companies already supply Russia with nonlethal equipment.

"If they (China) start supplying weapons, it will be a very serious problem for us," said another senior Ukrainian official, who declined to be named.

However, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary-general of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Affairs Council, tried to downplay the possibility of China aiding Russia.

In an interview published on the 17th, he stated that "China... will not collude with Russia."

Yurii Poita, a Ukrainian strategic scholar who is currently researching at the National Defense Security Research Institute in Taiwan, also believes that China's military aid will not happen at this stage.

"We don't expect them to supply Chinese combat vehicles, aviation equipment or multiple launch rocket systems in the short term," he told AFP.

At this stage, China is actually trying to play the role of mediator.

At the end of February, Beijing released a 12-point plan for Ukraine, calling for dialogue between Moscow and Kiev, but did not mention Russia's withdrawal from Ukraine, and condemned the "unilateral" sanctions against Russia.

The West rejected the document, but Ukraine was reluctant to anger China, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying "we must cooperate with China".

While China and Ukraine have had sporadic diplomatic talks, Zelensky has not spoken to Xi Jinping since Russia invaded Ukraine, despite publicly expressing his willingness to talk.

Pu Youli said, "Since August (last year), Zelensky has been trying to communicate with Xi Jinping," but "China just doesn't pick up the microphone."

Pu Youli said that according to the American media, after Xi Jinping's visit to Russia, there may be dialogue between China and Uzbekistan, but it is expected that "there will be no breakthrough."

Economically and geopolitically, "Russia is very important to China, much more so than Ukraine," he said.

Kiev "never really developed a China policy" and hasn't had an ambassador to China for two years, so "it's impossible to hope that they'll suddenly listen to us," Surodeki said.